Fredericksburg, Virginia, police released video this week showing an officer using his Taser and pepper spray on an unresponsive man who was having a stroke, Raw Story is reporting .
The officer involved in the incident, Shaun Jurgens, has resigned from the police force.
On May 4, according to WTOP (Washington, D.C.), Fredericksburg police responded to reports of a hit-and-run driver driving the wrong way in traffic. After hitting another vehicle and a street sign, and then crossing the median strip, the vehicle came to a stop in the middle of a busy intersection.
Three police officers, Jurgens, Matt Deschenes, and Crystal Hill, approached the vehicle with guns drawn, screaming profanities at the driver and ordering him out of the car.
The driver, later identified as 34-year-old David Washington, can be seen slowly attempting to raise his right arm to the steering wheel. His left arm isn’t visible; Raw Story writer Tom Boggioni claims the driver was trying — and failing — to unbuckle his seat belt.
Jurgens the deploys his Taser and a blast of pepper spray against the man.
“Get out the car. Get out the car, or I’m going to f******g smoke you. Get out the car, right now. We ain’t playing.”
Jurgens then protests that he can’t breathe.
“That’s the point, get out.”
Jurgens then pulls the man from the car and pins him to the ground before putting handcuffs on him.
Davidson was later charged with reckless driving, hit-and-run, and driving on a revoked license.
The Fredericksburg Police Department later determined that Jurgens’ use of force was “not in line with department policies or training.” Jurgens resigned on May 14.
In a statement made available to the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star , Jurgens insisted he did nothing wrong.
“The suspect continued to refuse to respond to verbal commands made by Sergeant Hill and Corporal Deschenes to show his hands. I could see that the driver appeared to be exhibiting behavior that made me believe that he may be under the influence of some intoxicant or narcotic. The driver appeared to be unfazed by all the police officers and not worried about what was going on all around him. The suspect’s left hand was concealed from view because it was below the door frame and steering wheel. It appeared that the driver was using his right hand to reach around for something inside of the vehicle.”
As of this post, no criminal charges have been filed against the officer for using his Taser and pepper spray against a motionless and silent man; the other two officers involved in the incident remain on the police force.
[Image courtesy of: YouTube ]
